Following the historic merger in May 2019, ADCB accomplished
full integration in only 11 months – less than half the original expected
timeframe – surpassing regional and global benchmarks for major bank mergers.

Meticulous planning, testing and a robust governance framework
paved the way for effective and smooth implementation of the integration
process, while ensuring uninterrupted, high quality service for customers.

Within weeks of the legal completion of the merger, the ADCB
Group had harmonised policies, unified treasury functions and activated a new
organisational structure and operating model. After only five months, the ADCB
brand was rolled out across all physical and digital platforms and customers
benefitted from an optimised network of 72 branches and over 450 ATMs across
the UAE.

Meanwhile, Al Hilal Bank launched a new digital strategy, which
focuses on offering retail customers Shari’ah -compliant products and services
through digital channels. This followed the 100% migration of Wholesale and SME
customers to ADCB’s Islamic wholesale banking platform in the second and third
quarters of 2019.

In the final milestone completed last week, banking systems were
unified, with former UNB customers transferring to ADCB systems, applications
and digital banking platforms. Cross-functional teams across the Bank worked
round the clock to ensure a smooth transition in a short 38-hour window with
minimal downtime for systems and channels. This was achieved in challenging
circumstances, as 90% of the integration teams worked remotely due to current
health and safety guidelines.

Ala’a Eraiqat, ADCB’s Group Chief Executive Officer and Board
Member said: “The integration of three banks into a fully unified
organisation in only 11 months is a tremendous achievement. The combination of
ADCB, UNB and Al Hilal Bank into a larger and stronger banking group was driven
by an ambition to continuously evolve to deliver excellent service to our
customers and to create value for all our stakeholders.

These aims guided our approach to integration, with teams across
the organisation fully focused on smooth and effective delivery. It is a matter
of pride that our strong culture and values contributed to a successful
integration, with no compromise on the Bank’s high-quality customer service
levels.

Best practice governance, close collaboration and a methodical
approach allowed ADCB to enhance productivity and accelerate the integration
process. This led to a seamless transition and the capture of greater
efficiencies, which will have a sustained positive impact on financial
performance. In the fourth quarter of last year, the Bank increased its
run-rate synergy target by 37% to AED 840 million, of which AED 350 million had
already been realised in 2019. Furthermore, a major survey this year shows that
ADCB recorded the highest increase in brand value of any company in the UAE
over the last 12 months.

The result of our successful integration is the creation of a
fully unified banking group that is resilient in the face of macro-economic
challenges and has the scale to invest further in the infrastructure, systems
and people needed to deliver outstanding service and sustainable growth.”

Mohammed Al Jayyash, Acting Group Chief Operations Officer,
said: “Over the last year we have been engaged in detailed planning and
testing to ensure the smooth execution of consecutive phases of integration,
with minimal disruption to our customers. This was an enormously demanding
task, involving more than 100 systems and hundreds of processes. The need for
our teams to work remotely across several locations in recent weeks required
even greater coordination and focus.

Following this seamless transition, over one million customers
now enjoy all the benefits of banking with ADCB, including convenient and
highly efficient internet and mobile banking as well as a wide range of
enhanced products and services. We are delighted to have delivered the programme
ahead of time, in very challenging circumstances and look forward to supporting
the next phase of the UAE and ADCB’s growth story.”